An Ottawa woman recently profiled by this paper for overcoming her drug addiction to graduate from high school said she was left “humiliated” and in tears after a Bank Street medical clinic refused to give her an allergy test because she once had hepatitis C.

“The treated me like I had leprosy,” said Monica Higgins, who says she was turned away from an Appletree clinic at Bank Street and Heron Road Thursday morning, which, coincidentally, was World Hepatitis Day.

“I was so humiliated. I don’t know what to do. I’m just completely mortified.”

Higgins, 39, was honoured last month as student of the year when she graduated at the top of her class from St. Nicholas Adult High School. The former crack addict has been drug-free for nearly five years and told Postmedia how she was holding a razor blade to her wrist after a crack cocaine binge in Toronto when she decided there was a better life ahead.

It was shortly after she moved to Ottawa for treatment in September 2011 that she learned she was infected with hepatitis C. She was put on the drug Interferon and within a month was virus-free, she said.

Hepatitus C is a blood-borne virus that, if left untreated, attacks the liver, leading to cirrhosis, liver failure and liver cancer. About 250,000 Canadians are infected with hep C, the majority of them baby boomers and those born before 1975. The most common infection source is dirty hypodermic needles, either shared by IV drug users or, more often, reusable syringes used in medical procedures that had been improperly sterilized.

The Canadian Liver Foundation recommends anyone born before 1975 be tested for the virus since the disease can be controlled through lifestyle changes and has a 95-per-cent cure rate with modern drugs.

Higgins booked an allergy test at Appletree several weeks ago after she started experiencing allergy symptoms for the first time.

She said the nurse began preparing Higgins for the test, which involves rubbing serums of 52 possible allergens on her arm, then pricking the skin to watch for a reaction.

“She started asking me questions: ‘Have you ever had this? Have you ever had that?’ And then she asked, ‘Have you ever had any blood-borne diseases?’

“I said yes — I wasn’t going to lie. I said, ‘Yes, I had hep C but I’ve been hep C-free for a little over four years now.’ ”

Higgins said the nurse promptly left and a few minutes later a doctor came in and asked the same question.

“I said, ‘Yes, I had it’ — ‘had’ being the operative word. He said, ‘Well, I’m sorry but we can’t give you the test.’ I asked why and he said it was too much of a risk.”

Higgins said the doctor told her the clinic had no proof she was free of the virus. She wonders why they just didn’t wear gloves, if they were concerned about infection.

“It’s not like they were going to hit a vein and blood would go spurting everywhere. It’s just a little prick on the skin. I don’t even think you bleed,” she said. “I’ve been so proud. I’ve been so proud of being hep C-free and for a doctor to shame me like that because of something I had, it just blows my mind.”

The chairman of the Canadian Liver Foundation, Dr. Morris Sherman, said any concerns the clinic had were unfounded.

“Whoever the person was, was just clueless about hepatitis C,” said Sherman, a liver specialist at Toronto General Hospital and a professor of medicine at the University of Toronto. “That’s the reality unfortunately because hep C doesn’t have the prominence it should. It’s not recognized as being a significant medical condition in this country and it has this stigma, which is unwarranted.”

Sherman said that people with a high risk-lifestyle are tested for hep C as soon as they come in contact with the medical system. Most people with the virus, however, don’t know they’re infected until they begin to suffer from serious liver disease. Once someone is clear of the virus, there is no risk of infection, he said.

“When you’re cured, it’s gone. The virus count is zero.”

Even people who still carry the virus present a low risk of infection, he said, much lower than those with HIV or hepatitis B.

“Our surgeons do transplant surgeries on patients with hepatitis C and they’re not particularly worried about getting infected. They do it all the time and in surgery the level of exposure is much higher than it is with allergy testing.”

In an email, Appletree said it couldn’t comment on Higgins’ case for privacy reasons, but said patient safety is always its first priority.

“As such, we follow best practices and do have certain screening questions for a number of our services,” wrote Alison Green, Appletree’s vice-president of communications. “An example is for the flu shot – at triage, our staff ask a number of questions, such as whether the patient has an allergy to eggs, for safety reasons. If the patient answers anything that may put them at higher risk, or that could lower the safety of the procedure, the staff do not continue with the procedure but leave it to the doctor to decide.

“If the doctor does not feel it is safe, based on his professional judgment, and directs the staff not to continue, the staff follow his orders. This is always decided on a case-by-case basis.”

Comments

We encourage all readers to share their views on our articles and blog posts. We are committed to maintaining a lively but civil forum for discussion, so we ask you to avoid personal attacks, and please keep your comments relevant and respectful. If you encounter a comment that is abusive, click the "X" in the upper right corner of the comment box to report spam or abuse. We are using Facebook commenting. Visit our FAQ page for more information.

Almost Done!

Postmedia wants to improve your reading experience as well as share the best deals and promotions from our advertisers with you. The information below will be used to optimize the content and make ads across the network more relevant to you. You can always change the information you share with us by editing your profile.

By clicking "Create Account", I hearby grant permission to Market to use my account information to create my account.

I also accept and agree to be bound by Postmedia's Terms and Conditions with respect to my use of the Site and I have read and understand Postmedia's Privacy Statement. I consent to the collection, use, maintenance, and disclosure of my information in accordance with the Postmedia's Privacy Policy.

Postmedia wants to improve your reading experience as well as share the best deals and promotions from our advertisers with you. The information below will be used to optimize the content and make ads across the network more relevant to you. You can always change the information you share with us by editing your profile.

By clicking "Create Account", I hearby grant permission to Postmedia to use my account information to create my account.

I also accept and agree to be bound by Postmedia's Terms and Conditions with respect to my use of the Site and I have read and understand Postmedia's Privacy Statement. I consent to the collection, use, maintenance, and disclosure of my information in accordance with the Postmedia's Privacy Policy.